Hello Norwegian Warmshowerers and all the others that know a lot about Norge
Here spring is coming, so we start planing our summer-holidays in Norway. That for we have 3 big questions to the warmshowersexperts.
1. Actually we have the dream to cycle from Trondheim to Bergen.
What do you think: We have about 3 weeks time - Is this realistic?
2. At the moment we have our problems with organising the travel up across Europe. Train seems to be possible until Kopenhagen. After Kopenhagen nobody here can tell us, if it is possible to take bicycles into norwegian trains!
Even stupid questions have to be asked: Do you have any informations about, who to take a bike into a norwegian train?
3. If we do not manage to take our bikes to Trondheim and from Bergen back to Switzerland - It still could be possible to take a 3 week-ride starting and ending in Oslo... Do you have any fantastic routes to recomend?
:-)
Tak for all your answers og Greetings from Switzerland
Marius
i am quite certain it must be possible to put bike on train in Norway although I have not done it.
take a look at their website ( in norwegian and english ) at www.nsb.no or put " norway trains " into google.
I can tell you though , in Norway you can make huge savings on train fare if you buy " minipris " ticket. You can do this very easy on internet or even sometimes on the same day at the ticket machine at stations.
For example the 18 hour journey from Oslo to Bodo , the normal price is about 1300 NK ( about € 130 ) but " minipris " ticket can be as low as 199 NK.
199 NK is always the cheapest minipris ticket, it does not matter if it is 3 hour trip or 18 hour trip.
I have done this minipris and trains are great and service is the same. If you travel on night train you even get to keep the pillow,blanket,eye cover and ear plugs they give you ;-)
there must be many people cycling in norway in summer so I am sure they must have some plan for people who want to put bike on train.
Did you know that in Norway you also have " everyman right " which basically means you may put your tent for 1 night and sleep for free , as long as it is not in someones garden. Norway is VERY EXPENSIVE so this will save money.
Allow more time to cycle than you think you need as it is very mountainas country.
good luck and enjoy,
best wishes,
jim fullwood.
you could try cycling the cyle track from Oslo to Bergen. I took the train that way last may and noticed a few people cycling it. The train ride takes you over one of the highest rail passes in north Europe ( about 1300metres )and the scenery was very beautiful. I think there must be some kind of infrastructure along the way for cyclists, basic huts in which to sleep etc. Try google info Oslo to Bergen bicycle track.
jim fullwood.
Thank you very much for your infomations. We will have a look for minipris-tickets... if we go to norway!
By the way the place your living in Finnland seems to be interesting too. Do you have a tipp for a nice Helsinki-Roundtrip?
marius
Hi,
I'm going on a similar trip this summer - I fly from Warsaw to Oslo and then take a train to Bodo via Trondheim. I'll have my bicycle with me and I had to buy a ticket for it in advance by phone (you can find the number on the NSB page about carrying a bicycle). If they have tickets for bicycles, it must be possible to take them:)
I also bought the minipris ticket, thanks to this it was possible for me to buy it:)
Well, as I wrote I start my trip in Bodo, where I want to catch a ferry to Moskenes on the Lofoten Islands. I want to cycle through all of them till Andoya and then take a ferry and go back to the south, to Stavanger. I chose the most beautiful routes and places and that's why my dream route counts over 4000 km instead of 2000:) But I have 6 weeks, so I hope I'll manage to complete it:)
I have a few advices for you:) I think it's a great idea to choose smaller roads instead of the highways. They are longer and steeper, but there's almost no traffic and the views are stunning, as you're cycling around mountains, not under them in a tunnel. So I have two very useful links for you:
- a list of the most beautiful roads in Norway (national scenic routes). I'm planning to cycle them all apart from the northernmost and southernmost ones where I won't have time to ride. From what I've heard it's really worth cycling these roads: http://www.turistveg.no/main.asp?lang=eng. They may be a bit more challenging than the main roads, but that's what we're after - a bit of challenge and a loads of great views and memories!
- a wonderful website with loads of information about cycling in various countries, this is the link to their page about Norway: http://www.cycletourer.co.uk/cycletouring/norway.shtml
- what is especially valuable, I'd say priceless, is their map of the Norwegian tunnels. As you may know, some of them are banned for cyclists and some of them are not. On this map you can see them all - where they are, if they're open for cyclists and if not - what way to goo. This is a real treasure!!! http://www.cycletourer.co.uk/maps/tunnelmap.shtml
- an official Norwegian page about cycling in Norway, also many interesting information and recommended routes: http://www.bike-norway.com/default.asp?lang=eng
- and of course the official Norwegian website for tourists. Here the information is a bit less detailed (especially for cyclists), but it's a good place to start searching, to have an overview - what to see, where to go, what to do. It's good to know that almost all the cities and regions have their local websites connected with this site and the link is usually "visit..." http://www.visitnorway.com/en/
I hope this helps - it helped me a lot!
Hi Marius,
We did that trip several years ago and in less than 3 week. We probably averaged about 50-60 km per day. Sights were lovely but there was quite a bit of rain. We also didn't have lights which was a problem going through some tunnels--and there were lots of tunnels. There were also lots of ferries and we had to watch the timetables carefully as some ferries only ran once per day.
Enjoy.
Cheers,
Cory and Jim